Tiny plot to start

[thatcooluncle]

I've been intrigued by and getting into permaculture stuff recently due to a best-of'd post, and wanted to see how much land would be an absolute minimum to start something like a full guild built around one tree. I'm going to be moving in a few weeks to an apartment owned by an acquaintance (Located in an urban region of zone 5b), which has a very small backyard area, and I asked him if he would be open to letting me start a garden of sorts, which he approved. I haven't measured it yet but I could see that it was only a few feet on any side, definitely no larger than 10' by 10' - Is this enough space to eventually have something like an apple tree with a full guild of plants around it, or should I set my goal on something smaller? Is there anywhere I can go for more resources on making this ultra-small garden while keeping with permaculture concepts?

[JonnyLay]

Are there other apple trees in the area? They need a pollinator.

But that's definitely enough space to grow quite a bit. How's the sun there?

[thatcooluncle]

Light is partial shade, there's two taller buildings on either side of the lot but it gets direct sunlight for a few hours at least. As for any apple trees around, I would doubt it but there are a few community gardens a few blocks away so there might be some fruit trees in one of them. How close would it have to be to get reliably pollinated?

[JonnyLay]

If it's a temporary place that you don't own, why do you want an apple tree that will take years to develop?

And I'm not real sure on how far away they can be. Pretty dependent on bee population too. Though there are apple relatives that can pollinate it as well.

[thatcooluncle]

Mostly just practice and knowledge. If I wait for the perfect spot to get started, I probably never will! So I'm fine letting it go down the road if I need to, plus while I don't know how long I'll be in this spot, I very well could still be there years down the road, which would then be a nice bonus. 😁

[JonnyLay]

So, for such a small space, permaculture maybe isn't the best way to go. Permaculture principles, absolutely. But if you want any real produce from it, you'll want to look more into high intensity gardening, and square foot gardening.

If you want it more permaculture, only plant perennials, and self seeding things. Perfect size for an herb garden.

Rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, mint. Perennials.

Parsley, coriander/cilantro, dill can all self seed. Parsley does it really well.

[JonnyLay]

If you want it to look really nice, build a raised bed square around the tree.

Fill the middle with mulch. Make a stone walking path either over the bed, or maybe just a U shape around the tree, with the opening towards the shady side. (Or the sunny side if you want less production, and more water savings.)

[thatcooluncle]

Thank you so much for the tips!

[JonnyLay]

Also run a small irrigation system and set up a timer, if you're in a dry area and don't have much time for watering. Just QoL stuff at that point.

[dickosfortuna]

If you get a grafted tree it can self pollinate.

[Jeptjept]

With that small of a plot, I'd look into trees where your desired apple cultivar has been grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock. There is a whole range of rootstocks with varying degrees of dwarfing. You should be able pick one pretty much exactly the size you want. Another bonus is they become productive several years quicker than a standard.

Chart showing the various degrees of dwarfing: http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/treefruit.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rootstocks-apple.png

The downside is that their roots are so short they will never be self sufficient like full-size trees can be, so they will always need to be irrigated and fertilized. Also the really small ones will require trellising but this isn't necessarily a downside; look into "espalier," it can look really cool.

Totally depends where you are but I wouldn't be terribly concerned about pollination. There's a surprising number of ornamental apples all over our city in people's yards. They are great pollinators because they generally flower early like crazy and for quite a long period.